Sunaina's POV

"Di, do you have any boyfriend?" Pari said randomly.

"No, I don't. Why are you asking suddenly?" I answered, confused by her random question. She just shrugged.

"What qualities do you want in your future boyfriend?" Ayesha asked.

"Um... never thought of it. But yeah, I don't want much—just some love, loyalty, and trust would be enough for me, I guess I'm capable of handling the rest by myself," I said, and from the corner of my eye, I could see he was just scrolling, but his attention was on our conversation.

Ofcourse he is on the same tab for more than 5 seconds.

"Many guys must have proposed to you, right?" she asked, sighing dreamily.

"Not many, but yeah, guys did. They were handsome too, but I had my priorities at that time, so I rejected them," I told them.

"Will you accept any guy if someone proposes to you now?" Ayesha said, glancing at him.
She thought I was unaware of that action, but I saw her.

Two can play the game Mr. handsome jerk.

"Maybe," I said, shrugging.

"Anyone? Even your enemy?" they asked together.

"No, I mean someone I find compatible. Why would my enemy propose to me?" I said, unsure.

"Oh, okay," they said.

"What if it's your brother's—" Pari was about to say something but was cut off by that jerk. "Okay girls, that's enough. Go and get some rest." They just nodded and left.

Silence engulfed us as he was boring his eyes into his phone, and I just decided to keep quiet.

30 minutes passed, and now I was getting so bored and hungry that I could form a pattern of my stomach rumbling and make songs with it. My mehndi was done too, and I was sitting there waiting for it to dry so that I could eat something—and he was still stuck on that phone. Not many people were left here; many had gone to rest or eat. Honestly, I was forcing myself not to sleep in this boring weather.

I so regret not having a boyfriend now. At least I would've eaten something.

I was brought back to reality by him. "What?" I asked.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, keeping his phone aside.

NO SHIT SHERLOCK, MY STOMACH WAS PRACTICING HOW TO RUMBLE.

"No," I straight away denied, even though my stomach's rumbling could be heard from 2 miles away. There's no way I'm allowing him to feed me.

"Don't lie," he said, catching my lie.

"I am hungry, but I can't eat right now. I'm going to take a nap," I said, carefully getting up. I don't want to spoil the mehndi I've protected by staying hungry.

"Don't even dare to take a step ahead or else the consequences won't be good for you," he threatened in a deep voice.

Damn, I freaking felt butterflies. No, no, no—I'm just hungry. Yes, hungry.

"OR WHAT?" I asked, glaring at him and his audacity to threaten me.

"You should not stay hungry for so long. Come, I'll feed you," he said, getting up.

"No thank you," I said and ran away carefully, leaving him dumbfounded behind.

Quickly, I came back to my room panting and sat on my bed, taking deep breaths, calming my racing heart.

Phew, that was close.

Do not fall for his acts, Sunu. He is your brother's best friend. Get your shit together. Yes! Brother's best friend.

Giving myself a pep talk, I decided to take some rest as my mehndi was still wet. And then I didn't know when I fell asleep. In between my sleep, I felt someone caressing my hair and giving me a peck on my forehead. It felt so safe, and a warm feeling spread in me that I unknowingly smiled. Must have been bhaiya. My door was open, so he might have come to check up on me.

KUKDU KU KU KU 
KUKDU KU KU KU 
KUKDU KU KU KU—

"Shut the fuck up, you fucking alarm," I groaned and turned off the alarm. After tossing and turning for around 5 minutes, I finally got up and the first thing I noticed was that my mehndi was fully dried and had a beautiful colour.

Wait, why are my ears feeling so light?

My jhumkas? Frowning, I went to check in the mirror—and magically my makeup and jhumkas were removed?

How? I remember falling asleep with them?

I was brought back to reality by Pari's voice.

"Sunu di, are you okay? Jiju sent me to check on you," she yelled from outside.

"I'm okay, Pari. I was taking a nap. I'll freshen up and join you guys in 20 minutes," I replied.

"Okay, I'll see you in the yard. Come soon," she said and left. I quickly got ready for the Sangeet.

The Sangeet's vibes were glittery, so I went with a simple lavender organza lehenga. It had a glittery sort of blouse and a plain satin skirt with a net dupatta, which was perfect— not too much and not too little. Pairing it with diamond earrings, a bracelet on my right hand, and a few rings, I decided to wave-curl my hair. And I was ready. Applying my favourite perfume, I quickly took my phone, locked my door, and went to the yard.

(Her look is at the end of the chapter~author)

As soon as I stepped in, I was greeted with loud music, my overly excited teen cousins—whom I barely remember—dancing their asses off on the dance floor, and the older guests probably gossiping. My eyes roamed in search of my parents and brother.

Ahhh, I see my parents were greeting their favourite guests, and my brother was nowhere to be found.

I couldn't even spot the Mehras, and Dev bhai and bhabhi were not here either. So I texted my brother. Of course.

me-
where the fuck are you guys? There's no one here.

bhaiya-
Terrace. Mehras and others are here too.

me-
Ek baar bata nahi sakte the aap. I was waiting for you guys for 15 min se.
(You Could've told me sooner)

bhaiya-
I am sorry :( come soon. We are waiting for you.

me-
Okay and you are not forgiven :)

Bhaiya-
🥺🥺

After replying to his text, I rushed back to my favourite people. As soon as I reached there, my lips automatically curved into a smile. Everyone was laughing at something, and my bhaiya looked really happy too. I wanted to capture this moment in my heart forever, but Dev uncle saw me standing there.

"Sunu beta, waha kya khadi ho, come here," he said, patting the empty seat beside him. All eyes turned toward me.

(Sunu, child what are you doing there? Come here join us.)

SHIT. MY SOCIALLY ANXIOUS ASS CANNOT HANDLE THIS MUCH ATTENTION.

"Uh, yeah uncle," I said and walked over to him, settling into the seat next to him.

"What are you guys doing here? Weren't we supposed to be there?" I asked as I got comfortable.

"We were ready early, so we decided to have fun here. There's an hour before the function starts," Adhira aunty said.

"Oh, okay," I replied.

"Bachha, you look sooo beautiful," bhabhi said, and others agreed.

"Thank you, guys. You all look stunning yourselves," I replied, blushing.

It's hard for me to take compliments, yaarrrrr.

We engaged ourselves in random conversations. All the while, I could feel someone's gaze on me. I guess I knew who it was, so I chose to ignore it.

The rest of the sangeet went normally—we danced, we had so much fun, and after a long, tiring day, we headed back to sleep. But I still wasn't able to sleep, even though exhaustion was taking over me.

The thought of a pair of eyes constantly staring at me made my stomach flutter. I wanted to ignore it, but for some reason, my thoughts kept going back to those eyes. And the weird part? I wasn't uncomfortable.

URGHHH I have gone mad.

GO TO SLEEP, YOU DUFOOS.

Shaking those thoughts off, I focused on backward counting so I could fall asleep faster.

100, 99, 98, 97, 96... and finally, by 50, my eyes started drooping, and eventually, I drifted off to dreamland.

Tomorrow's going to be even more tiring. Wish me luck.